Pages

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Checking In and Quilting, too

The past four days I have not been overly productive. The sun has been shining and the weather has been wonderful. I took my car in to get a brake job knowing that I would have a couple of hours to pass.
I decided to walk around the old downtown where I live. Many of the shops I knew growing up are long gone. (I should mention that I live in the town where I grew up.) But I walked in shops that are open and looked. One was furniture store where the proprietor was near my age. We talked for a while as he wasn't busy - and I looked at furniture that I don't need at this point. But I did see a recliner that I really like. When "old faithful" finally gives up, I will get one like that one.

I went in an antique store that had some lovely and expensive old pieces. But in the "back room" I saw an antique wheelchair that I knew. The shop owner had loaned it to the community theatre for a production I was in. We chatted and I thanked him for having done that.

I got almost double my walking goal steps in (fitbit) so I was very happy.

I got part of the quilt I am working on layered, basted and ready to quilt. Then I started quilting on it. There was thread break after thread break. So I said "Today is apparently not the day!" Walking away from it, I decided to go walking again. But I used my "indoor track" at the hardware superstore so it wasn't so much of an adventure.
Today, Thursday, I gave the quilting another go. More thread breaks - so I put out a "help" to some of my quilting friends. I got advice but nothing that helped. Or did it? I remembered that a while back I had put a 75/11 in the machine for sewing. But maybe the larger needles is better for free motion on this machine. Yes! I put in an 80/12 and it solved the problem.
Look at the lovely texture:

I finished the smaller "half" and need to layer the other part and quilt it. But now there is less worry about not getting it done in time. Whew! At least the problem got me to clean out the machine and put in a new needle. The boy's quilt should be finished before he graduates! Yaay!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in posts may be affiliate links for which I am compensated if you click through and purchase.

5 comments:

Gene, I am literally in awe of your quilting skills. I know I've said that before, but really, words fail! Ah, Fit Bit! I love mine, and I've been known to repeatedly walk from room to room before bedtime to reach my daily goal. Lol! But it is lonely these days. I had to recharge it, but it was from non-activity that it died. ;)

Argh!! Thread breaks are so frustrating! I'm glad you figured out it was the small needle. The last time it happened to me, it was fatter thread. Not all 50 weight thread is the same, apparently. I decided it was easier to get rid of that thread and stick with the combo of needle size and thread that had been working.

"Today is apparently not the day!" - haha - I had one of those the other day! I was "trying" to sew a simple block - kept messing it up - walked away - did something else - came back to it the next day - and it went together like it was supposed to. The "something else" was "ditch-quilting" a sandwich that had been sitting for a while - so I guess that's one advantage of having several projects going at the same time.

Love your quilting! - Glad you were able to figure out the thread breaking issue - I hate when that happens. I use a size 12 needle for "in-the-ditch" stitching - but for FMQ I usually use a size 14 and 50 wt thread - that combo seems to work best for me - ;))